Covering the new frontiers of the energy transition
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December 11 – 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET
Webinar

Adapting the electric grid to a new era of extreme weather and wildfires

How utilities are driving resilience and balancing rising electricity costs in the face of escalating disasters
About

The United States now experiences billion-dollar extreme weather events roughly every three weeks, marking a clear “new normal.” In 2024 alone, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded 27 such events, just shy of the record 28 in 2023.

At the same time, utilities are making record investments — over $208 billion in 2025, according to the Edison Electric Institute — to harden and modernize the grid. This surge of spending, combined with a growing wave of innovation in adaptation and resilience technologies, represents an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration to ensure a more reliable, affordable, and climate-ready power system.

Join three industry experts as they discuss how these escalating disasters are being addressed by utilities, which face heightened risks to safety, reliability, and wildfire liability, while trying to drive resilience and balance rising electricity costs. This is a preview of conversations that will take place at the 2026 Power Resilience Forum.

Who should attend?

  • Utility operations and planning leaders
  • Utility regulators
  • Resilience technology companies
  • Federal, state, and local government
  • Insurers
  • Credit agencies
  • Investors
Watch the recording:
FEATURED SPEAKERS
  • Julia Hamm
    Julia Hamm

    The Ad Hoc Group

    Julia Hamm

    Julia Hamm

    Partner

    The Ad Hoc Group

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    For 25 years, Julia has been at the center of the transformation underway to a net-zero energy system. She has spent her career advising and collaborating on business models, grid modernization, resilience, electrification and clean energy policies, strategies and programs. 

    She is a partner at the advisory firm The Ad Hoc Group, and serves on the boards of Puget Sound Energy and Voltera. 

    From 2004 through 2022, Julia served as President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). She led SEPA to re-envision its mission and rebrand from the Solar Electric Power Association to the Smart Electric Power Alliance in 2015. She also led mergers with the Association for Demand Response and Smart Grid in 2015 and Smart Grid Interoperability Panel in 2017. Julia served on the Transformation Advisory Council that supported the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority board of directors in its efforts to “build back better” from 2017-2020 in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

    Julia’s entrepreneurial spirit drove her to create Solar Power International (SPI) in 2004, which has grown to become North America’s largest energy industry trade show. Under Julia’s leadership, multiple other clean energy and electrification brand verticals have joined SPI under the umbrella RE+. Julia is the Founder and former Co-Chair of the Board for the LLC that now manages this trade show business that annually attracts more than 40,000 people.

    Julia is a graduate of Cornell University, and currently lives in Marco Island, Florida with her husband and two children.

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  • Katie MacDonald

    RWDI

    Katie MacDonald

    Director of Ventures

    RWDI

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    Katie MacDonald is an innovation and climate expert currently serving as Director of Ventures at RWDI, a global engineering services firm. Katie is Co-Founder and serves as a Venture Partner of Tailwind, an innovation and investment firm focused on accelerating the deployment of climate adaptation and resilience solutions

    Katie served as Director of Tech to Market at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) where she managed a $200M early-stage startup innovation and investment portfolio. Previously, Katie led Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Greentown Labs, the world’s largest climate tech incubator where she founded the ‘Greentown Go’ program and ran 8 unique accelerator programs focused on commercializing climate tech solutions through corporate partnerships.

    Before Greentown, Katie served as the Executive Director of Cleantech Open Northeast, a regional accelerator for climate tech startups where she supported the business growth of over 250 startups. Katie is a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project where she Co-Lead’s the Climate Affinity group. She is also on the Advisory Board of America Adapts, the climate adaptation podcast.

    She graduated with honors from UMass Amherst’s Environmental Science program and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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  • Tammy Cordova

    Public Utilities Commission of Nevada

    Tammy Cordova

    Commissioner

    Public Utilities Commission of Nevada

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    Tammy Cordova was reappointed to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada in 2024 by Governor Joe Lombardo. She was first appointed to the Commission in 2020 by Governor Steve Sisolak.

    Commissioner Cordova has three decades of experience in state government and the United States Navy. She has worked for the PUCN since 2001. Before her appointment to the Commission, Commissioner Cordova served as staff counsel of the PUCN’s Regulatory Operations Staff. During her tenure at the PUCN, she has focused on a collaborative and practical approach to utility regulation. Commissioner Cordova served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1991 to 1996 and was an executive director in Europe of a branch of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.

    Commissioner Cordova serves as Chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Committee on International Relations. Commissioner Cordova is also a member of the NARUC Gas Committee, Vice-Chair of the NARUC Task Force on Natural Gas Resource Planning, and a member of the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation. She is a member of the Committee of State Representatives for the Western Resource Adequacy Program of the Western Power Pool.

    Commissioner Cordova graduated with a Bachelor of Science in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University and earned her Juris Doctorate from University of San Diego School of Law. Originally from Salisbury, Maryland, Commissioner Cordova lives in Las Vegas with her two adult children.

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  • Jason Ryan

    CenterPoint Energy

    Jason Ryan

    EVP, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs

    CenterPoint Energy

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    Jason M. Ryan was named Executive Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs at CenterPoint Energy following service as the company’s general counsel and in other legal leadership positions. In his current role, Jason reports to the company’s CEO and leads the rates and regulatory portfolio management team; the regulatory policy team; the regulatory legal team; the local, state, and federal government affairs team; the enterprise utility strategy team, and the company’s gas and electric energy efficiency teams

    Jason was commissioned by President Bush as an intelligence officer in the Navy after the September 2001 terror attacks and served with a reserve unit for 10 years. He was appointed by Texas Governor Perry to the Texas Diabetes Council in 2013; he was reappointed by Texas Governor Abbott twice, most recently in 2025 for a term ending in 2031.

    Jason currently serves on the boards of the Lone Star Flight Museum and the Association of Electric Companies of Texas (AECT), and chairs the Legal Committee of the American Gas Association (AGA). Jason previously served on the boards of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (including chair from 2014-2017), the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Bar Foundation, the Houston Young Lawyers Association (including president), the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation, the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program, Leadership Houston, the Houston Urban Debate League, and the Houston Club (including president).

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EVENT DETAILS

Thursday, December 11

2:00PM – 2:30 PM ET

The Power Resilience Series is a collection of events co-hosted by Latitude Media and The Ad Hoc Group. These webinars showcase innovative solutions to the growing challenges in designing and maintaining resilient energy systems. Each event features timely, in-depth conversations between leading voices in the industry and Q&A sessions with attendees.


Register now